Walk your path; Shine your light; And leave a spark so that others may shine too.

Pirate

Through the soft mist of sea
Again, you appear,
Haunting my thoughts
And threatening attack
Upon the shores of my dreams.

When first you arrived
Upon an oak boarded ship,
Boasting your flag of skull and bones;
My eye caught only the glimmer
Of your chests of gold
And treasures to behold.

Lost in the fantasy of adventure
I did not see the sword of danger
Swinging from your belt;
Ready to dismember and maim,
If not my body,
The whole of my heart.

Cut and broken
I walked the plank of your ship,
Bearing my pride in a carnation,
That I’d seized from the fold of your slops;
A green stem pressed between cracked, blood stained lips.

I outswam the sharks,
Drank the salty sea,
And breast-stroked to the banks of freedom.
My tired arms,
Cramping legs,
And swollen skin
Seemed a welcome carcass to the island cannibals;
Yet, I arrived more alive
Than I had ever been.

Now, I sit upon a cay of sun and sand
Waiting,
Watching,
And drinking in the sweetness of coconut milk;
While contemplating the many ways
You plot to sabotage my oasis.

And, perhaps, it is only in my thoughts
That the peril lies;
For hostages are abundant upon the decks of your ship,
And a bag of bones
Is not worthy of your return.